TRUTH IS FINALLY SURFACING IN NONE LESS THAN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

After years of trying to get some mainstream media reporters to investigate the issue, it is heartening to see that someone is finally digging deeper into the Pharmaceutical interests of smoking bans.

Kudos to the authors Jane Zhang and Brody Mills for an honest article on pharma's direct and through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funding towards implementing smoking bans to boost their profits. Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for publishing the article. We certainly hope this will motivate more reporters to dig deeper as there is a lot more to bring to light!

Please take the time to drop a note to Jane Zhang and Brody Mills to thank them for their honest work at: Jane.Zhang@wsj.com and brody.mullins@wsj.com .

Excerpts from the article: Nomination Tests Antilobbyist Policy . Please take the time to read the whole article because it is an excellent read.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has received millions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies that would benefit from the organization's work to reduce smoking because they sell products that help people quit, such as Nicorette gum and NicoDerm patches.

(…)In the past five years, the drug industry has contributed $3.3 million, amounting to 3.2% of the Campaign's funding, said spokesman Vince Willmore.

Most of the money was donated by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which has contributed nearly $3 million since 2004, according to Campaign records.

Pfizer Inc. donated $385,000 since 2007 and Johnson & Johnson gave $50,000 for an award in 2008 and 2009.

The Campaign was founded in 1996 to take on the tobacco industry. Its first grant came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nonprofit established with the personal fortune of Robert Wood Johnson, who helped build Johnson & Johnson. The foundation, a large shareholder of J&J stock, is the Campaign's biggest contributor, donating more than $85 million since its founding.

What is brought to light in this article is only the tip of the iceberg. There are billions of dollars being funneled through foundations and non-profits into the smoking bans and into the increase of tobacco taxation worldwide to profit the bottom line of the pharma industry. You can find extensive research on the issue at: http://www.rwjf.org/portfolios/grantlist.jsp?iaid=143&gsa=1 and many other links on the same blog http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/